The invention relates to a compressed-gas breaker having two coaxial contact members movable with respect to each other along an axis. Such a breaker is known, for example, from EP-A1-075341. The known breaker has two coaxial contact members which are movable with respect to each other and which have in each case one arcing contact, and a coil through which the breaking current flows and which is electrically conductively connected to an arcing ring. The arcing contacts are surrounded by a heating chamber. The quenching gas contained in this heating chamber is heated up during the breaking process in the high-current phase by the switching arc rotating under the influence of the magnetic field of the coil through which the current flows. Particularly during the switching of small currents, the pressure, generated in this manner, of the quenching gas stored in the heating chamber may not be adequate for an adequate blasting of the switching arc.